Of Seals and Trigger Squeezes
by conner09
Summary: What if Iruka met Naruto when he was younger and less set in his idiotic ways? What if he nurtured certain talents that fell through the cracks in canon and gave Naruto an abandoned weapon that the shinobi world had largely ignored? Answer: A seal scribbling, gun toting, ninja tool inventing legend. A grey but never evil Naruto fic.
1. First Shot

**Usual Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto please don't sue etc, etc.**

"It's actually kind of amazing how after two years of doing this your hand writing is still horrible" 18 year old Iruka Umino said looking at the nearly filled in chalkboard and then down at his favorite but most troubling student.

"Hey! You can read it can't you!" 8 year old Naruto Uzumaki yelled, annoyed and disappointed that his final prank on Iruka as the man's student was a failure.

Shaking his head Iruka looked over at the contraption Naruto had rigged up that was sitting on his desk. Despite being the intended target for Naruto's prank Iruka, on some level, felt a little sorry for being the cause of Naruto's depression and decided to try and cheer the boy up. Maybe talking about the thing would lift his spirits a little.

"Hey what is this thing anyway?"

Looking away from his 200th 'I will not prank my sensei' sentence Naruto couldn't help but let out a small grin.

"It's my best work yet! An electric paint launcher!" Naruto proudly proclaimed.

"Electric huh? Did you buy it at that magic shop on 5th street?" Iruka asked having never heard of such a thing. Harnessed electricity had been around since his father had been Naruto's age but advancements in generating the energy were slow making it too valuable a commodity to be featured in a pranking toy. At least, in one Naruto should be able to afford.

"I didn't buy it. I made it"

"Oh really? Well come on, let's go out the training field. We'll try it out on a dummy while you explain it to me"

"Yatta! No more writing!" Naruto yelled jumping into the air excited to not only get away from the board but to also show his hard work to Iruka. The man had been like all the others at first but after Naruto had successfully snuck into the faculty locker room and put a spring loaded pie in Iruka's locker their relationship began to change due to just a few careless sentences.

"_A spring loaded pie? That's not very original. I mean I was doing way better pranks than this when I was your age"_

People had said how much they despised Naruto's pranks (and how much they despised him for that matter) but in that one statement Iruka did three things no one else had ever done before. He actually compared himself to Naruto, stated that they had a shared passion and then (unknowingly) challenged him to do better.

After that it took six whole months of failed pranking attempts (and punishments) of increasing quality to get Iruka to give Naruto a chance but for the last year the scarred teacher had become the best (and only) friend Naruto had ever had.

Upon reaching the academies 4th training ground, the one reserved for Iruka's class, Naruto quickly began to set up and explain his gear. "So you know how the pie prank was the only one I ever got you with? Well since I'll be going to another class and getting another teacher after the break I really wanted to get you again. So I thought pretty hard about that first prank and realized that it worked because no one was around and you didn't feel threatened so I rigged up this paint launcher to hit you before class started when you sat down at your desk."

"Smart but why didn't you just rig up a spring in the drawer?" Iruka asked wondering why the backup plan loving Naruto would put all his hopes in one tactic.

" 'Know your target' right sensei? I've watched you for a while now and I know that you've become a little paranoid about opening things. That's why I put a battery and wires in your chair cushion. Then I poked a hole in the rug under your chair, picked the drawer lock, installed the launcher in the drawer and left it cracked open so that it the pressure from the first shot of paint would've opened it up. I taped the wire from the main unit to the desk, ran it under the rug and up the inside of the right chair leg. Then I painted over the exposed parts of the wire so they blended in with the desk and the leg. Too bad you still saw it." Naruto finished a little dejectedly.

"Actually you did a very good job hiding this thing from view. I didn't actually see it until I started looking hard at my desk" Iruka complemented.

"Then how…"

"I could smell the paint"

"Ugh, stupid!" Naruto said slapping himself in the head. He'd been so worried about Iruka seeing his bulky machine he'd forgotten about the man's other senses.

"So how does this thing work?" Iruka asked the double barreled box looking familiar.

"Oh! It's so cool. Two weeks ago the microwave that came with my apartment stopped working and my crappy land lady said she wouldn't pay to get it fixed so I took it apart and tried to fix it myself. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the heating part but I was able to fix the motor that turns that plate thing in the bottom of the microwave. I didn't want to waste it so I decided to use it in a prank and read up on batteries and wires and motors…"

"You read?" Iruka asked surprised, after all Naruto hated reading.

"Yeah, those books and diaphragms hurt my head…"

"Diagrams Naruto, a diaphragm is a totally different thing" Iruka cut in with a chuckle.

"Whatever, stop interrupting me! Anyways I learned enough to rig latches at the bottom of the cardboard barrels. The left barrel has one latch while the right has two. The circuit is broken until the target sits on the wires in the cushion which causes the motor to cut on and spin the tonged mini disc inside that wooden box. I tongs press against the first latches of each barrel releasing the spring loaded paint blatter of the left barrel first and then the second barrel's blatter a couple seconds later. The blatter travels down the barrel, gets poked by a tiny nail at the end and explodes! Cool huh? Bet you never did anything like **this **when you were my age!" Naruto said with a grin that faltered upon seeing Iruka's frown.

"Iruka-sensei?"

Catching himself Iruka smiled at Naruto and patted him on the head. At Naruto's confused look Iruka changed the subject. "I'll explain later Naruto, for now let's see this bad boy in action!"

"Cool! It's all set. I want you to set it off sensei!" Naruto said enthusiastically pointing to the cushion sitting on the ground.

Nodding Iruka stepped on the cushion causing tandem shots of orange paint to shoot out of the propped up barrels and into the face and torso of the wooden training dummy.

"Wow that reminds me of the stories my dad used to tell me of my grandfather's weapon" Iruka said gripped by a powerful wave of nostalgia.

"You mean some one already came up with something like this?" Naruto asked a little bummed that his awesome machine might not be as original as he thought.

"Not exactly... Hey do you want to see something cool?" Iruka asked in a stage whisper instantly drawing Naruto's interest. Quickly picking up Naruto's equipment Iruka lead him to a part of the village Naruto had never been to before, the cluster of clan districts. Naruto couldn't actually see into the districts due to the walls that seemed to be everywhere however Iruka led him past a set that looked a little more faded than the rest.

"What is the place?" Naruto asked looking at the large but somewhat unkempt yard with a large two story house surrounded by seven smaller ones.

"This is the Umino clan district" Iruka called back walking into the main house.

"Wait you have a clan!?" Naruto exclaimed running behind Iruka.

"I had a clan. We were always small compared to clans like the Yamanaka or Nara but the second and third shinobi wars really put a hurting on our numbers. It was so bad that there were only a handful of us left, me being the only child. Then the Kyuubi attack happened and… well it's just me now" Iruka said sadly.

"Sorry sensei" Naruto said quietly. Somehow feeling responsible for what happened to not only Iruka's family but all the families touched by the Kyuubi. Must have been all the bad feelings sent his way during the grand festival which also so happened to be the week of his birthday.

"It's not your fault Naruto. Besides I didn't bring you here to listen to a sob story, check this out" Iruka said pulling out a 60 cm (two feet) long wooden box. Opening it revealed a barrel with an opening about the size of Naruto's fist that gradually narrowed into a bulbous handle guard and a slim handle that had some kind of large button on the end.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"It's a… cannon…of sorts" Iruka answered picking it up.

"Whoa" Naruto said looking at the weapon in awe.

"Yeah, see my grandfather had terrible chakra control but was very strong. Since his Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were terrible he played to his strengths and became and weapon and Taijutsu user. Despite this he always envied people with big flashy jutsu. Sometime during his lifetime the first explosive sealing tags were developed and he thought they were the coolest things ever. However when he started to tie them to his kunai and throw them he was less impressed. Iwa-nin would use earth walls and armor to defend themselves and Suna-nin would just blow the kunai away. He thought about his problem for months and realized that the tag wasn't the problem. If he actually managed to get the tagged kunai close enough to his opponent's weak spots the explosion would usually do the trick. He started wrapping tags around arrows and had a little more success but wasn't satisfied. After all sometimes the arrows would actually bounce off the Iwa-nin's defenses only allowing the resulting explosions to do surface damage.

What he needed was something that was faster than a thrown kunai or even an arrow with far more penetrating and stopping power. The more he thought about it he realized that there was plenty of untapped power in explosions themselves and he made this" Iruka said handing the device to Naruto who was surprised by how heavy it was. Not wanting to seem like a weakling he chose not to comment on the weight and instead asked "How does it work".

"You turn so that your side, not your chest is facing your target and plant your feet like this. Hold the cannon with one hand at waist level in front of you…" Iruka said helping Naruto get into position. "Then you channel chakra to your free hand and slap the button on the end of the handle"

***Click***

"Um sensei, nothing happened" Naruto said with a confused frown. Was it broken? It sounded so cool…

***Slap!***

"Ow! What was that for!?" Naruto yelled rubbing the back of his head.

"For not thinking! You could've just seriously hurt yourself and blown a hole out my family's house!" Iruka yelled back despite knowing that Naruto would try to fire the weapon. It was all a part of the plan he'd come up with to try and inspire the boy.

"Sorry sensei, guess that was pretty stupid huh? " Naruto asked now ashamed that he nearly damaged his teacher's ancestral home.

Sighing Iruka knelt down to be eye level with Naruto "Naruto **that** was stupid but I don't want you to think **you** are. Do you know why I showed you this weapon?" Iruka asked to which Naruto could only shake his head.

"It's because of that" Iruka said pointing to Naruto's paint launcher.

"The creativity and type of mechanical ingenuity that you showed in making that thing at your age, all on your own, proves something that I suspected for a while now. You Naruto Uzumaki are a genius" Iruka said causing Naruto's eyes to widen considerably.

That word 'Genius' had always had a special meaning to Naruto. All the previous Hokage, a position Naruto wanted more than anything (even ramen), had all been geniuses. Sasuke Uchiha the kid who Naruto wanted to surpass so bad he could practically taste it was called a genius. And now here was the person Naruto trusted more than anyone saying he, Naruto Uzumaki, the dead last of his class was actually a Genius! Genuine, unbridled joy the likes of which he'd never known in his eight years of life flooded through his system to the point where he was about to literally jump with joy only for Iruka to grab his shoulders so hard it hurt (a lot).

"Naruto, I know you're happy but I need you to calm down and listen to me. I need you to do more than pay attention to what I'm about to say to you, I need you to absorb it like a sponge and remember it forever" Iruka paused only continuing at Naruto's excited nod.

"There are different types of Geniuses. There is the type that is blessed by Kami with natural ability in nearly everything they attempt. The Sandaime or even… Sasuke fall into this category. Naruto, you… don't"

At these words Naruto's spirits plummeted. Was Iruka making fun of him? Was he…

"Naruto look at me I'm not done" Iruka said nearly pausing again at the fresh tears welling up in Naruto's eyes.

"Then there is the type of Genius that focuses on, put effort into and perfect one amazing thing. My Grandfather was like this. He was great at Taijutsu and weapons so he focused on just them and let his other skills slide. When he realized this he developed a work around, his hand held cannon, which was an impressive show of ingenuity. But he then became focused on his new weapon and again he let his other skills slide. He became just a little slower to the point that he couldn't run fast enough to avoid an enemy jutsu and was crippled, ending his shinobi career."

"But even this didn't stop him from being obsessed with his creation. He started looking for ways to improve it and tried to use Fuinjutsu, an art he barley understood by the way, as a short cut. Can you guess what happened? The seals in his new cannon reacted badly with each other and he blew himself to kingdom come! My grandmother was bringing lunch to his workshop and was caught in the blast too. My father was only about your age. Naruto right now this is the type of Genius you are. When it comes to pranks you are amazing. All that stuff I said about being better at your age was just talk, I was never half the prankster you are. But Naruto, the path you've chosen, the path of a Ninja is isn't a game! It filled with dangers and horrors that I can't even begin to explain. You're a kid so I get that it's hard for you to grasp that but I need you to try to realize how dangerous your life is going to be. Naruto I worry for you, not that you will be a good ninja but that you'll go through you career only trying things that interest you. That you'll sleep on a skill that could save your life just because it's not 'fun' or 'flashy'"

"Seeing the fear in Naruto's eyes Iruka changed gears. "Naruto right now your like my grandfather but you don't have to end up like him because luckily there's another type of Genius. A Genius of hard work. These ninja train hard in their one amazing thing but train even harder in everything else" Seeing a look of slight confusion on Naruto's face Iruka struggled for an example that Naruto would truly grasp.

"Just take the Yondaime for example" Iruka said instantly seeing that Naruto had snapped out of his own thoughts at the mentioning of his hero and was listening even closer.

"His classmates made fun of him for being a nerd, always studying his books on seals an art that they thought was only good for storage and explosive notes. They made fun of him for being terrible at Taijutsu and the slowest in his class" A bold faced lie but Iruka was trying to motivate and quite possibly save the life of a very unique but currently dense child. He was sure that, wherever it was, the Yondaime's spirit would forgive him.

"So what did he do? He realized that he was too slow; especially to use his strength, the powerful but complicated and time consuming art of Fuinjutsu in combat and trained every day to get better. He trained so hard that he became faster than any other Konoha-nin. And when he met the Raikage who was even faster than him in battle what did he do? He used his Fuinjutsu to make himself even faster and outpace the Raikage in their second battle! Something that wouldn't have been possible without the years of hard work he put into his running" Again, not how things happened but Iruka could see that the lie was having the desired effect. Good thing Naruto liked to sleep through the history portion of his class.

"So Naruto do you understand what I'm saying to you? I mean who do you want to be like? The Yondaime or my grandfather?"

Closing his eyes so hard they almost looked fox-like Naruto thought hard on everything that Iruka'd said. It took ten entire minutes (the longest Iruka had ever seen Naruto be quiet and still) but eventually Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Iruka with a seriousness he'd never seen on the boy before. A look that inspired Iruka's confidence in the child but also inadvertently intimidated him just a little bit.

"I understand"

"Good, now what do you say we take this bad boy outside and fire it for real?" Iruka asked causing a huge grin to spread across Naruto's face.

A few minutes later in Iruka's back yard, Naruto watched as the man detached the weapon's barrel from the handle and unscrew the previously unseen metal plate from the barrels bottom. Placing a small sealing tag in the plate Iruka reassembled the weapon and then poured a bottle of rubber pellets down the barrel.

"All right Naruto here you go, try and hit that paper target over there" Iruka said pointing to the cardboard silhouette target 6 meters (20ish feet) away.

"Seriously! Your gonna let me fire it for real!?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Sure, the tag I used isn't even half as strong as what my grandfather used and you're firing rubber pellets instead of rocks or metal. You'll be fine just…put these on" Iruka said unsealing a helmet with a visor on it and a large pair of ear muffs.

Quickly putting the items on Naruto, in his excitement completely forgot about the way Iruka told him to fire the weapon and faced the target holding the cannon straight out in front of his chest. Channeling so much chakra to his free hand you could almost see it he slammed it into the button.

***Boom!***

"Ahh-oof!" Naruto screamed before the handle of the weapon slammed into his chest knocking the air out of him and causing him to trip backwards over his own feet.

"Ow, now I see why no one else uses this thing" Naruto said sitting up and rubbing his chest.

"No one uses it because they thought it was a part of a jutsu. My grandfather hid the simplicity of the weapon by making a few one handed seals before firing it" Iruka said while laughing heartily.

"That's pretty smart…hey! Stop laughing at me! It's not like you told me about the kick back" Naruto grumbled.

"It's called recoil and it wouldn't have been as big a problem if you'd fired it like I told you!" Iruka yelled back.

Naruto was about to reply until his eyes landed on the target. "Cool! I was aiming at its head but the whole thing is filled with holes! Hey sensei how can you let something so cool just sit in a box? Why don't you use this thing yourself?"

"Because it takes too long to load in battle and can only safely be fired a handful of times. My grandfather worked around this by using storage seals to hold dozens of these things on his person at a time. Plus now a days shinobi wear flack vests that do well at catching the shrapnel the weapon fires" Iruka said.

"Why didn't you just work on it and make it better?" Naruto asked like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"I…my father thought these weapons were cursed and I guess some of that transferred over to me. I didn't even touch one of these until a few years ago when I was looking for an edge in the Chunin exams I ended up going with something else though"

"Curse shumrsh. This thing could use some tinkering but is still super cool!" Naruto yelled looking down at the weapon reverently.

"You really think so? Well then…you can have it…" Iruka said causing Naruto to nearly drop the weapon in his surprise.

"Really? Are you sure? I mean isn't this a family heirloom, don't you want to save it for your kids or something?" Naruto asked interrupting Iruka in his elation.

"This weapon crippled my family's spirit long before the fox finished them off. I don't want it. But I do think that in the right hands, the hands of a genius of hard work, this weapon could be something truly special. Now, hand it over"

"Hand it over? I thought you said I can have it!" Naruto said clutching the weapon tight.

"Yup but I also said 'in the hands of a genius of hard work'. This isn't a toy Naruto and giving it to you now is far too dangerous so I'll make you a deal. If you can graduate rookie of the year I'll not only give you this weapon but I'll throw in my grandfather's journal and his other two weapons that are left"

"Rookie of the Year? I could nev…" Naruto started but stopped when he thought about everything Iruka had said. Sure he was at the bottom of the class now but Naruto knew that was mostly because his first attempts at learning where sabotaged from the jump. After all it was only thanks to extra sessions with Iruka that Naruto knew that the tutors at the orphanage had taught him the wrong letters for certain sounds, the wrong numbers for certain values. They even told him that the name of his favorite color was tonkner. What the hell is a tonkner anyway?

But after only a short time with Iruka he'd learned enough to read complicated civilian books (well ok, they had the words 'For Dummies' in their titles but they were still plenty complicated for Naruto) and make his kick ass paint launcher. Maybe if he stopped goofing off so much and worked hard he could do it. Maybe he could be a genius like the fourth. There was only one problem.

"Sensei, how am I supposed to do that without you? I mean you've seen the way the other teachers at the academy look at me right?"

"I tell you what Naruto. You try your best, keep a journal of the results of every practical exercise and a folder of every written quiz and test and bring them to me every Friday evening and I'll make sure you get a fair shot. Even if I have to but my very career on the line, that's how much I believe in you" Iruka said looking Naruto in the eyes so that the child knew he meant every word.

"Well then hold on to **my **weapon for a few years sensei because I'll be getting it back! And don't worry about your job neither cause once I'm Hokage I'll make you Headmaster or something!"

"Humph, I'll hold you to that _Hokage-sama_. Now come on let's go get some ramen to seal the deal although now that you're gonna start training seriously were going have to change up your diet. Maybe some greens…"

"Eww! Do we have to?"

"Yup" Iruka said as he sealed up the weapon and patted Naruto on the head while turning to head back into the village.

"The things you gotta do to be great, next you're gonna tell me I have to do homework over the summer" Naruto said shaking his head.

"Funny you should say that" Iruka said reaching into his Chunin vest and pulling out a small scroll and handing it to Naruto.

"'Fuinjutsu for beginners Volume 1'?" Naruto said reading the scroll.

"The day before the new school year starts I'll be giving you a test on the contents of that scroll. You better study hard but don't try and actually make any seals yourself until I say its ok. Don't tell anybody you're studying Fuinjutsu either, for now it's none of their business" Iruka instructed thinking about the trouble he could get in if Naruto accidentally sealed a hand away or blew himself up. However Naruto blowing himself up was exactly why he was doing this. Naruto had already said the weapon needed tinkering; well he'd feel a lot better about that if the boy had a few years of Fuinjutsu study under his belt first. He'd be damned if he let what happened to his grandfather happen to Naruto.

"Ok sensei I promise. Hey I was wondering something. What did your grandfather call these things? I mean if I named it I'd call it 'SUPER AWESOME DRAGON'S BREATH MEGA CANNON!' or something like that" Naruto yelled his hands thrown up in the air for dramatic effect.

"Funny you should say that. My grandfather called this particular model a Dragoon. But he called all of his explosion using weapons Guns"

"Guns? Where'd he get that name from?"

"Don't know"

"Gun…you know what? I think I like the sound of that!"

**A/N: So this story's pretty much a tool to try and work through the massive case of writer's block I ran into with my other story Way of Hatred. Just trying to get the creative juices flowing again. That being said I always wanted to write a gun slinging Naruto story so I'm gonna take this one pretty seriously. Unlike WOH this story will weave in and out of cannon but will eventually take a left turn. Reviews are always welcome. **

**P.S: I realize this chapter may have been a little dry so I'm posting chapter 2 with it. **


	2. Tests

**Two years and two months later:**

***Thunk* **

***Thunk* **

***Thunk***

Naruto watched as one by one the kunai flew through the air imbedding themselves deeply into the rings of the swinging wooden target five meters away. Too bad none of them got any closer to the bulls eye then the third ring.

"Ha, Ha! Way to go dead last!" One kid yelled out causing several others to laugh.

"Yeah, sensei told you not to throw them so hard" admonished another.

"Shut up! Next person that says something about me is in for a world of hurt when we get into the sparing circle!" A very pissed off Kiba Inuzuka yelled shutting up the entire class. Kiba might have been the lowest ranked in most subjects but Taijutsu definitely wasn't one of them.

"That's enough Kiba you scored a 60 now get to the back of the line. You'll get another chance with the shuriken, next up Shikamaru Nara" Mizuki, the class' new instructor for their last two years of the academy directed. Naruto had only known the man for a few days now but was willing to give him a chance. After all he was apparently one of the very few of Iruka-sensei's adult friends that hadn't abandoned the scared man after he'd publicly cursed out Mai-sensei and gotten her fired for trying to sabotage Naruto's education nearly two years ago.

"You know I'm going to get my spot back this semester right Uzumaki?" a curtain dark haired boy said, his contempt for Naruto easily discernible by his low but angered tone.

"In your dreams Uchiha" Naruto said airily while pulling out a book on woodworking knowing that the best way to get under the boy's skin was to act as if he didn't matter. Although in truth not a day went by that Naruto didn't worry both for and about Sasuke Uchiha…for **various** reasons.

"I've been studying and training all break. I've closed the gap between us academically and widened the one between us in physical application. I will be graduating with the top spot and **you'll **be second best" Sasuke retorted crossing his arms.

"So you can use fire to harden wood? Maybe hardened oak would be a better material? That's a good idea, better write that down" Naruto said to himself while holding his book in one hand and using the other to pull out a small note pad from his leather and wool bomber jacket pocket.

"U-zu-mA-KI!" Sasuke growled dangerously at one of his rivals most aggravating quirks. If he said those blasted seven words he would snap…again.

"I'm sorry Sasuke were you saying something?"

"Ahhh!"

"Hey!" Mizuki yelled at the Uchiha survivor who was frozen in mid punch and the blonde village pariah who had his now closed woodworking hardback outstretched defensively in his left hand, his right was still down at his side but was clutching a very sharp looking pencil tightly. The pages of the boy's now grounded notepad turning lazily in the wind.

"Sasuke you're up next and when you finish go sit inside the sparing circle. You boys wanna fight so bad I'll accommodate you, all it'll cost is your shuriken scores for the week"

Letting out a 'Hn' with a deep scowl on his face Sasuke moved to the throwing line and watched the swinging target for a few seconds before cartwheeling into a handstand and rapidly throwing three kunai. The first landing inside the ring closest to the bull's eye and the other two hitting the solid red circle.

Movement from the awestruck gaggle of students drew Naruto's attention from the impressive display and his eyes landed on his pinkette former crush who stuck her tongue out at him. Naruto only smirked back before shaking his head. Sasuke's 'fan club' of girls had shrunk to only a devoted few after the boy had gone verbally berserk on them for bad mouthing (and in his own words no less) 'the only kid here worth my time'. Apparently the only one worthy of bad mouthing Naruto was him. After Sasuke had returned from in school suspension (which was the only reason Naruto had been able to surpass him in the rankings the previous year) Naruto had made a few attempts to form some kind of friendship with the boy only to get a black eye outside the Uchiha district for his trouble. Since then Naruto had put Sasuke onto his 'People whose ass I'm gonna kick one day' list.

"Good job Sasuke I'll give you a 95, next up Naruto Uzumaki"

Walking up to the line Naruto couldn't help but feel a little nervous as Mizuki jogged over to the target and switched it out for another one. His and Sasuke's ongoing dog fight for the coveted rookie of the year spot wasn't just a heavily talked about subject in the class or the academy. The entire village was talking about and in some cases betting on it. Even old man Kenji, who used to sell him over priced spoiled goods until he repeatedly snuck stink bombs into the ventilation system of the geezer's store, came to him and said that if he beat Sasuke for the top spot he'd let the blonde eat as much food as he could carry for free for three months!

Yet another reason to get that spot.

"Alright Naruto begin when you're ready" Mizuki said as he jogged behind him.

Breathing deeply and taking a second to watch the target and get his timing down Naruto pinched and twisted something under the sleeve of his right forearm and thrust his palm forward.

Two kunai flew out of his sleeve in rapid succession impacting the target with heavy thuds inside the bull's eye. Reaching into his pouch with his left hand Naruto threw one more kunai which landed right on the closest line to the bull's eye.

"What was that!?" Mizuki who'd been watching the target and not Naruto yelled in surprise. The speed of those first two was just crazy.

"A spring loaded kunai launcher" Naruto said pulling up his sleeve and revealing the contraption which started at the ring on his middle finger that had an extra thin ninja wire around it and continued half way up his arm.

"What, do you know how dangerous those things are?" Mizuki asked.

"Yup that's why I added this crank switch to quickly add more tension on the springs right before firing. You lose some of the element of surprise but if the device accidently goes off only one kunai'll be launched and its propulsion will be far less powerful than from a normal model. Plus the added tension allows a second kunai to be launched which is how I imagine Jonin launchers fire multiple…"

"Naruto, just…your disqualified"

"What, why?" Naruto asked calmly pulling down his sleeve.

"Because you cheated that's why!" Kiba yelled only to receive a glacial glare.

"That's strange; I don't remember anyone telling you to 'speak' muttley. Oh and remember, I'm one of the few that can eat your punches for breakfast" Naruto bit back referring to his method of dealing with not only Kiba's but all the clan children's Taijutsu.

Defend and or take beating. Tire out opponent. Return beating at least double. Rinse and repeat. Iruka helped Naruto fix the holes in his academy Taijutsu and had even attempted to teach Naruto his own way of fighting, a rather clever Taekwondo variant. Unfortunately the slightly overly stylized, muscular speed over strength- based style didn't fit Naruto's body type or temperament. And since Iruka was already giving up too much of his time tutoring him in other areas Naruto was stuck with the academy basic which wasn't much against major clan fighting techniques. Stamina and the ability to take a hit were the only advantages Naruto had in Taijutsu. Too bad this ability had failed him once or twice against Sasuke's kicks.

As if suddenly remembering how vicious Naruto could be in the sparing circle Kiba quickly but grudgingly backed down, instinct demanding he retreat from the pissed off 'top dog'.

Turning back to Mizuki Naruto internally sighed. He didn't like being mean to anyone, not even Kiba but such displays were the only way to keep the aggressive boy in check. Naruto knew from experience how hard it was to be the dead last but the boy was trying to do better and Naruto respected that. He also respected the fact the feral boys punches hurt like hell, second only to Sasuke although followed closely by Choji.

"Naruto you did cheat. The point of this test is to see your skill in throwing kunai not using ninja tools. You weren't supposed to do anything extra" Mizuki clarified.

"At the start of the test you never used the word 'throw' you told us to do our best to 'hit' the bull's eye, that we would be graded on our accuracy. I operated within the parameters you set and as for doing extra Sasuke threw his kunai from a handstand and you didn't say a thing" Naruto said calmly with a slightly calculating look on his face. A look that tipped Mizuki off to the real reasons for the brat's little stunt, he was being tested.

"You know what? You have a point however in the future not everything is gonna be spelled out for you. There are these things called implied tasks that as a ninja you'll have to pick up on. That being said I'll give you a passing score after all. 94" Mizuki said with a slight smirk.

"But I scored the same as Sasuke…" Naruto said evenly.

"No, you both hit the bull's eye with two kunai but Sasuke's off kunai landed inside first ring while yours landed on it. See Naruto, dealing with a smart ass isn't too fun is it?" Mizuki said walking over to Naruto and placing a hand on his shoulder while bending down slightly, speaking so only the blonde could hear him.

"Naruto, I'm not Mai, I don't have anything against you. But I'm not Iruka either and my patience for your or any other student's…eccentrics isn't nearly as strong as his. I don't know if I passed your test or not but this will be the last one you give me otherwise I'll have you transferred to another instructor do you understand?"

"You pass sensei" was Naruto's simple reply.

"I pass…good…I guess, now go sit **outside** the sparing circle and wait for the rest of the class"

Moving over to sit outside of the circle Naruto didn't even look at Sasuke already knowing that the boy had heard his lower score and would be smirking at him. Reaching into his jacket pocket he pulled out his note pad, pencil and a folded up letter he'd received from his landlady refusing to fix a leak in his ceiling. Naruto had been practicing his calligraphy for the last six months or so and had completed all the basic exercises he could find. As a result he was now practicing the fine art of forgery. His land lady may be a nasty shrew but her handwriting was beautiful if a little girly.

It was nearly a half hour later that the rest of the class finished with the shuriken and excitedly gathered around the sparing circle. At Mizuki's nod Naruto entered the circle and took up the starting stance for academy basic while Sasuke dropped into that dammed interceptor fist.

"You two know the academy rules. This will be a 5 point spar, medium contact. 5 points as in the first to land 5 clean hits wins, medium contact as in no hitting as hard as you can and no braking anything" Mizuki said before turning and looking directly at Naruto.

"Weapons are not allowed" then turning to look at Sasuke he warned: "The spar is over when I say so. Failure to stop when commanded will result in me putting you on your backside and then writing up a recommendation for suspension"

"Are you two ready? Perform the seal of confrontation. Alright begin!"

Sasuke rushed him in some kind of new zig zaging maneuver that confused the hell out of Naruto and launched a blurred left jab that the blonde felt, more than saw coming. Jerking his head to the left Naruto attempted to capture Sasuke's fist with his right hand which was raised in a guard and was originally only inches away from his face thus putting it in prime position to grab hold of the still outstretched appendage.

Unfortunately Sasuke was looking at their respective attacking/defending hands and yanked his hand back accordingly. Taking advantage of his opponent's slight distraction, Naruto snuck a left jab of his own past Sasuke's guard only to lightly tap the boy's chin due to him backpedaling away.

"First point, Naruto" Mizuki announced drawing awed gasps from the other students.

"That jab was near perfect, Sasuke didn't telegraph it at all. I barley saw it and I'm standing out here how did Naruto dodge it?" One kid asked loudly causing Sasuke to grit his teeth.

The answer was actually an interesting one.

Over the last year Naruto had discovered two things in these heated spars, the first was that Sasuke hated him. It wasn't a mild dislike or simple jealousy no, the Uchiha despised him deeply. The second thing he discovered was that when Sasuke directed his anger at him he could actually feel the other boy's location and even his chakra. After making these discoveries Naruto tested the range of this ability and found that it was a little more than a kilometer (.6 miles). And since the Uchiha district was the only clan area located within this limit from Naruto's apartment complex Sasuke hadn't needed to tell Naruto he'd improved over the summer. The young Uzumaki had felt his enemy growing stronger with every passing day an…unsettling sensation to say the least.

Feeling another spike in anger and chakra Naruto ducked just enough to avoid an airborne Sasuke's jumping reverse roundhouse. Seeing an opportunity Naruto lunched a punch at Sasuke's exposed abdominals but the Uchiha had expected this and did something Naruto definitely didn't expect. He caught Naruto's outstretched wrist and forearm with both hands brought his left foot down on Naruto's neck and planted his right foot on Naruto's rib cage. What Naruto really found surprising was the chakra Sasuke was using to sick to him as if he were a tree.

As far as he knew grappling wasn't a part of the interceptor fist so either Sasuke had been holding out until now or Naruto wasn't the only one with a private tutor.

"I got you now!" Sasuke yelled triumphantly before pulling on Naruto's arm.

"Ahhgh!" Naruto screamed in pain as his arm was nearly pulled out of its socket.

"Ttt-tap out Naruto-kun it's not worth it!" Hinata Hyuga yelled out, her concern for her crush temporarily over riding her shyness.

Ignoring her Naruto focused on sifting through the vast amount of information he'd crammed into his head in search of something that could get him out of this.

_Wind Release is one of the five basic elemental nature transformations. It is performed by making chakra as sharp and thin as possible..._

As info from the stole…acquired scroll came to the forefront of Naruto's mind he nearly rejected it at it's absurdity. After all his vast chakra reserves had made mastery of even the most basic control exercises slow going. He'd only just learned to move leaves across… his… skin…

Sharp might have been out of his reach but there were other, simpler forms of chakra manipulation that Naruto knew he could do.

Focusing, Naruto pressed a thin layer of chakra just below his skins surface and then focused on making it as slick as he could manage, when that was done he grabbed the foot on his neck and pushed his chakra outward. His chakra rapidly pushed Sasuke's completely out of his skin tissue and it's slickness allowed Naruto to slip his captured hand out of Sasuke's grip. Pulling on Sasuke's foot Naruto yanked the boy off completely.

Looking into the landing boys eye's he saw disappointment in them and realized that the boy would have done it. Sasuke wasn't willing to break his arm and risk suspension but was more than willing to dislocate it. And if he'd been successful Naruto's grades in every practical exorcise would've dropped for a week or two. Long enough for the genius Uchiha to not only regain the top spot but create enough of a gap that even a healed Naruto would never be able to close.

In that moment Naruto realized he had a choice to make, a choice that would determine the type of ninja he'd become.

He could rush in and use every dirty but technically legal trick he knew to give the Uchiha a beating the likes of which he'd never known or he could swallow his pride and play this smart.

Deciding and then feeling frustrated and just a little pissed off about his decision Naruto threw his normal modus operandi out the window and charged. Reaching Sasuke he through a sloppy right haymaker that Sasuke deflected with his right hand before throwing a quick left jab to Naruto's ribs.

"Point Sasuke" Mizuki called out but the two boys paid him little mind.

Grabbing Sasuke's right shoulder with his right hand and his right arm with his left, Naruto pulled Sasuke while simultaneously jumping up, driving his knee into Sasuke's chest knocking the air out of him.

"Two points Naruto"

Jumping again Naruto tried to knee Sasuke once more but the Uchiha blocked with his free hand before wiping his head to the right and head-butting Naruto.

"Two points Sasuke"

The head butt was good for more than just the point however as the young Uchiha felt his opponents grip slip ever so slightly. Ripping his trapped arm free Sasuke tried to back petal and regroup since clinch range is a terrible place for an interceptor fist user to be but Naruto was hot on his trail refusing to give Sasuke too much space.

Naruto threw a right hook that Sasuke blocked and responded in kind with a right jab, right jab, left cross combo which speed and flawless execution surprised Naruto to the point that he wasn't able to completely block the cross which clipped his shoulder.

"Three points Sasuke"

In return Naruto did something he never did while fighting Sasuke. He spun around, pivoting on his right foot and hit Sasuke with roundhouse kick to the jaw knocking the boy to the ground and nearly out the sparing circle.

Everyone was surprised as this was something Naruto just didn't do when fighting someone even remotely skilled in Taijutsu. Naruto never kicked higher than the waist. People, including even Sasuke himself asked the blonde why this was and he never gave a straight answer. Many thought it was because of his love of punching and of the clinch but that was only partly true. The truth was Naruto hated the feeling of helplessness he always felt when kicking after all its hard to dodge with one of your feet above your head.

"Three points Naruto"

Sasuke quickly flipped up to his feet and settled back into his fighting stance watching Naruto carefully. The Uzumaki was fighting different and this now had him on edge. The two fighters started to walk the edges of the circle, observing each other for weaknesses. That is until Naruto did something else no one saw coming, he tripped over a small rock and stepped an inch out of the circle.

"Ah…winner by ring out Sasuke Uchiha" Mizuki said causing the rest of the class's jaws to hang open.

Ring out was usually forced on a combatant by the other and only good for helping a losing fighter grasp victory out of the jaws of defeat. For instance if you were losing 2 to 3 in a spar you could force your opponent out of the circle and win 4 to 3 as ring out would end the match with you beating your opponent by one point.

It was the safest way Naruto could throw the match while keeping the points he'd acquired during it as just quitting would have resulted in a zero. This was the choice he'd made in regards to sparing with Sasuke. The Uchiha was willing to go too far to be the best, willing to cripple a future comrade in a simple spar. Naruto couldn't have that so until he could completely outclass Sasuke in Taijutsu (something Naruto doubted he'd ever be able to do) he'd have to hide his skills and make the unstable Uchiha believe that he wasn't a threat to him in anything physical so that he wouldn't feel the urge to seriously injure him.

At least until the time was right then he'd beat the tar out that crazy…

"Nnnn-naruttto-kkun" Naruto turned and looked into to the red face of a very nervous Hinata.

"Aarrre youu alrrright?" she asked while pressing her fingers together nervously.

"I'm fine Hyuuga-sama thank you for asking" Naruto said politely while quickly averting his eyes.

After he'd gotten smart enough to see that his affections toward Sakura were wasted and stopped casing after the pinkette, Hinata had been emboldened and started to try and talk to him instead of watching him from afar. Although her first attempts had been…less than successful she was now capable of caring on short conversations with him. At first Naruto had been delighted as the only people in the class he was 'cool' with were Shikimaru and Choji. However being cool with someone while in school and truly being friends with them are two different things.

At first Naruto thought that Hinata could be his first true friend his age and the prospect was incredibly exciting. Naruto had spoken to the girl at length about many topics including his hopes and dreams and her hope to get rid of the caged bird seal and make her clan equal and whole. Naruto had even taken her to his favorite spot to train and spared with her which ended with him getting his ass handed to him. Afterwards Hinata had confided in him that she was the weakest in her family and that even her little sister was better at the gentle fist than her.

Naruto responded that during their spar her movements did seem a little stiff and that if she was having problems with the style that she should play with it a little to better suit her. Hinata had then informed him of the Hyuga's reverence of the fighting style and the restrictions they put on all clan members who learn it in an effort to keep it pure. Naruto had then asked her: _Is your clan gonna be out in the field with you 5 years from now when your trading blows with a ninja that's way faster than even your gentle fist? What good is a style or jutsu that feels wrong any level?_

After that Naruto walked Hinata within a block of the Hyuga district (he didn't want her to get into trouble for hanging out with him) and in a burst of happiness he hugged her goodbye… which caused her to faint. Freaking out Naruto did the only thing he could think of and picked the girl up, preparing to run her the rest of the way home when four Hyuga showed up out of nowhere and demanded that he hand over 'Hinata-sama'. As he did so he informed them that he didn't mean to hurt her and that he didn't know what happened, she had been fine during their spar.

To his surprise one Hyuga said:_ We know, we were watching _before all the Hyuga vanished in puffs of smoke. Later that night when Naruto was recounting everything that happened to Iruka over a couple bowls of ramen the scared teacher informed Naruto of just who Hinata was as well as telling the boy what he knew of the clan's bloodline. What he said next doomed any chance there was of a friendship forming between the two children. _Man as important as she is I'd be surprised if they didn't spy on any non-clan member she spent a bunch of time with._

Iruka made the comment without really thinking about it but it struck a chord with Naruto. Did he really want a clan of highly trained 'I can see through walls' ninja following him around getting in his business? Could he take the risk of them seeing the weapon designs and Fuinjutsu notes he had in his apartment and telling the Hokage and Kami knew who else? Hinata was the sweetest person Naruto had ever met; he wanted to be her friend.

He didn't want the scrutiny that would come with that friendship.

* * *

><p>Five hours later and a still upset Naruto was sneaking back into the academy training grounds to blow off some steam. Since his own training spot was just a semi-secluded clearing in the woods with a few weights and targets he'd put up and training at Iruka's meant having to listen to another lecture on controlling his emotions Naruto decided to go to the one place no one would look for him. School.<p>

As he got close to his destination he heard a voice yell out "If I cannot do 100 proper form jabs with each arm I will do 500 pushups without stopping!"

_That sounded like a kid but what kind of kid does 500 pushups at once?_


End file.
